Probably the most commonly seen bird species in Guatemala on this trip has been Great-tailed Grackle Quiscalus mexicanus. They are large, loud, agressive and seemingly everywhere. I've certainly seen them every day, and probably they are on every eBird list of the trip so far.
On Day 4 of my 6 day Guatemala birding trip with Claudia Avendano of Cayaya Birding https://www.cayaya-birding.com/, we started in the morning at Los Torrales with a watch of the feeders and hummingbird plants before a walk on a different trail nearby. Highlights of this morning were great looks at Orange-fronted Parakeets, a pair of Ferruginous Pygmy Owls preening and with the male appearing to be fixing the feathers of the female, and my first good look at Paltry Tyranulet.
Ferriginous Pygmy Owls Glaucidium brasilianum.
After this we left about 11 AM and headed for Santiago where we stayed at the Hotel Bambu. On the way we birded IMAP, a permaculture garden on the shore of Lake Atitlan, where we found our first water birds of the trip, including Great Egret, Green Heron, American Coot, Amazon Kingfisher and a Laughing Gull. Still I was amazed at how few water birds we found in a large lake and marshy shoreline that I expected would be teeming with birdlife.
Great Egret Ardea alba.
After IMAP we headed for our hotel, and birded the hotel grounds until dark. We hoped to find a spectacular hummingbird, called Slender Sheartail, but had no luck. We saw a few warblers, and 4 Azure-crowned Hummingbirds, one Rufous Saberwing, and watched a seemingly endless stream of Great-tailed Grackles flying to a roost somewhere past the hotel. Dinner was very good at a vegan deli in town, and we crashed for the night.
Azure-crowned Hummingbird Amazilia cyanocephala.
Another good day birding Guatemala. Good birding. Steem on.
I like the hummingbird a lot.
I visited the Caribbean coast of Mexico last year and saw thousands of grackles. Whilst they're probably the ultimate opportunist in the area with their numbers reflecting it, I like them a lot. They've got character. And iridescent plumage. They've just got funny pyscho eyes. Still, you can't have everything, can you?
They are incredibly varied vocalists, even though the sound may not be pleasing to the human ear, it is the sound most heard in many areas. Thanks for the comment.
Awesome birdies! :)
Grackle so gorgeous! And lil owls so cute!
Great birding!
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